What a Difference a Wash Makes: How to Keep Your Car Looking Good

What a Difference a Wash Makes: How to Keep Your Car Looking Good

Washing your car regularly is one of the best ways of keeping it looking as good as new. Times may be tough for many, but a tighter budget shouldn’t mean that your car has to suffer: washing your car by hand is easy and free, and will keep it looking and feeling new, whether it’s a brand-new model or that used BMW you love so much. You can even get your kids involved and use car-washing as an opportunity to bond with them. So, how do you go about washing a car?

What You’ll Need

It’s best to get everything you’ll need to wash the car before you start in order to avoid having to abandon the job halfway through. So what do you need? Car-wash soap is specially designed for washing cars and is preferable to ordinary soap, which could damage your car’s paintwork. You’ll also need a sponge, a hose, a dry cloth and two buckets.

Before You Begin

If it’s sunny out, park your car in the shade as the sun could cause it to dry too quickly, leaving streaks on the windows and the car’s body. Make sure that all windows and doors are closed properly to prevent water from leaking inside.

Washing the Car

To begin with, hose your car down to get it wet and prepare it for cleaning. Once you’ve done this, pour some of the car-wash soap into a bucket, and fill it up with water. Submerge your sponge in the soapy water and start washing your car from the top down, focusing on one section at a time. When you’ve washed a section to your satisfaction, hose it down before moving onto the next section.

Try to keep the entire car wet while you’re washing it by spraying water on it with the hose every now and then. The bottom parts of the car, such as the wheels and the lower bodywork, are usually the dirtiest and should be left until last. As you wash the rest of the car, starting from the top, soapy water will run off the car and loosening dirt on the lower sections, so when you get to the really dirty parts, some of the work will have already been done for you!

Finally, use a dry cloth or towel to dry your car. This stage is crucial, as you don’t want to nullify your own work by leaving streaks on your car, so be sure to do it properly and use a few dry cloths if necessary.

It’s inevitable that dirt will build up on a car over time, but by washing your car regularly, you can keep it looking young and attractive, no matter how old it is. If you’re really lazy, you could just bribe the kids to do it for you every now and then!